"This town, like the cake, is a lie," Jane groaned out through a huff of tired air.
Maura gave her confused look. "What cake?"
"It's from some videogame Frankie keeps trying to get me to play." The dark haired brunette waved away the thought with a brush of her hand. "How long have we been walking? Days?"
"About half an hour," the other woman replied with a chuckle. "You know, if you'd go running with me more often, you wouldn't be so exhausted right now."
"I don't like your implication. I'm not out of shape. I'm… hungry." Jane rubbed at her stomach. "We haven't eaten since breakfast."
"I can't believe the town would much further. Surely the welcome sign wouldn't be more than a mile or two away from the actual town?" Maura looked around them to find no indication of anything other than quiet forest and densening fog. She shuddered a bit at the cold slowly creeping up her body. "If it were dusk, we'd be able to see the glow of the town's lights to know how long we have."
"If it were dusk, we'd be in trouble because there are no lights around here. I don't know about you, but I don't want to walk in the dark here." The taller woman looked from one side of the road to the other. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Yes, the quiet and the mist do make this area unsettling." Maura pulled her jacket more closely around her to block out the chill.
"Are you kidding me? This is like the start to a zombie apocalypse movie." Jane's hand twitched as if she were considering pulling her weapon, just in case. "All we need is a radio that only picks up static and…"
"Not helping, Jane." The smaller woman gave her friend a hard look. "It won't do to allow our imaginations to run away with us. We should be focusing on finding this town."
"I honestly don't think it's here, Maura. We should've seen some sign of it by now. I mean, what kind of town has absolutely no traffic in or out of it? I've heard of communes, but nothing is ever that self-contained."
"Perhaps some kind of event is happening today, and most people have decided not to travel?" Pulling out her phone, Maura pressed the screen on and sighed. "Still no signal."
"And that's another thing," Jane added in frustration, "what self-respecting town would have no signal? We should be close enough now to at least a have a bar or something. I'm telling you, something is all kinds of wrong here."
The honey haired brunette nodded. "If we don't find a town by dusk, we should consider finding a place to camp."
"In there?" Jane balked as she pointed into the thick, dark woods. "No way am I going in there. I'm not interested in being eaten by the big, bad wolf tonight, thanks."
"Well, we can't sleep on the side of the road, but we can…" Maura looked around again, and hummed in thought. "Jane, let's cross the road."
"Why? Did you see some rare flower that only blooms once every thirty years?"
"No, I think I see the town, but, if you do see such a rare flower, do take a picture, would you? I could use another topic for a scientific journal entry," the other woman snarked back as she made her way to the opposite side of the road. "Look down there, through that grouping of trees. I believe that would be the town."
Jane peered down through the greenery and onto the small town nestled in an area surrounded by high hills with lush green grass and quaintly winding roads. "Whoa, hello 1984."
"I'm afraid to ask," Maura muttered while she carefully stepped into the edge of the forest. "It will be quicker if we cut through. Be careful of poison ivy and oak."
"As if it wasn't bad enough we're already walking, now I have to look out for plants that are trying to kill me." Jane grunted and cursed under her breath while she carefully picked her way through the forest floor. "And all I'm saying is that town looks like it hasn't had anything done to it since the 80s."
"I don't know how you can tell from this distance, Jane. All small towns have a certain feeling of nostalgia if all you're accustomed to are cities in which the latest technologies are implemented."
The lanky woman rolled her eyes. "All I care about is whether or not they have a diner so I can eat."
"I'm sure they do," Maura replied with a sigh. "I, however, am hoping they can repair the car."
"Oh yeah," Jane stumbled over a tree root and caught herself on Maura's shoulder, "that, too."
"That is a sign advertising IBM computers, Maura." Jane pointed an accusatory finger toward a bus bench with a very faded advertisement for IBM still somewhat legible on it. "What were you saying about this town not being touched since 1984?"
"One old sign does not a warp in time make, Jane." The older woman frowned as they walked along what looked to be the main street. "Where are all the people? It's still normal business hours. Why isn't there anyone in the little shops?"
"Good question." The detective put a hand on her companion to stop their motion. Slowly, she took in the town, eyes falling to a handful of cars made no later than 1987 and store fronts with faded signs hanging in their windows. Glancing at the clock tower situated over what appeared to be the town's library, she noted the time. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon, and a quick look at her watch said the town's clock was at least still accurately running. Slowly, her gaze made it to the street itself, which was perfectly pristine. "It's like no one drives on this road. There's no tire marks, no oil drippings, nothing."
"It's so quiet here." Maura commented, hand going up to touch Jane's where it still rested on her arm. "A town with people shouldn't be this quiet."
"It's a ghost town," Jane tensely replied. "Shit. What do we do now?"
"It's getting late. Let's try to find a place to sleep here, and, tomorrow, we can go on our way. If we're lucky, perhaps there's a bed somewhere." Turning a full circle, the smaller woman stopped as her eyes fell to a sign that read 'Granny's Bed and Breakfast' on it. "Perhaps that place has one?"
"Worth a shot," Jane answered as she led the way. "This is so weird. If it's really a ghost town, then it hasn't been for long. Look at all the plants. They're too well kept to have been left alone for too long, you know?"
"Well, then, maybe there will be some food still left in the diner?" Maura frowned uneasily. "I wonder where they've all gone?" She looked over the vegetation the other woman had pointed to, noting that some flowers had been freshly cut. "Why did they leave?"
"That's what I'd like to know," the detective replied in a dark voice. "A whole town doesn't just get up and leave, and, better question, why haven't we heard anything about it if they did?"
"It's likely we would have. It's unusual for entire towns to vacate their homes without it making some type of news." Maura stopped just behind Jane, who had abruptly halted. "What is it?"
"People," Jane replied with suspicion. "There's a ton of people in that diner, Maura."
"Well, that's… interesting." The other woman stepped around to be beside her friend. "But the entire town can't be in one diner."
"No, they can't." Jane started walking again. "Let's find out what's going on here."
"Jane," Maura grabbed her friend's arm to stop her. "We should try to fix the car and leave. We're out of our jurisdiction here. Maybe we should try to contact the state troopers before we do anything rash? Perhaps nothing is wrong at all?"
"My gut says otherwise, but you're right. We can't really do anything, but, if something happens while we're here, I can't just let that go."
"I know. I'm just asking that we be careful. We don't want to cause an incident between Maine law enforcement and Massachusetts law enforcement."
The dark haired brunette nodded. "I'll be careful."
If there had been conversation within the diner, it stopped when the two women walked in. The little chime above the door echoed into the quiet as several pairs of surprised eyes greeted them with suspicious stares.
"Hey," Jane offered into the silence, "our car broke down by your welcome sign, and we're wondering if anyone around here can tow it in and take a look at it."
A few sharp inhales and a couple of awkward coughs greeted her request. She was just on the verge of asking again when a thin blonde with a sheriff's badge hanging on her hip walked up to her. "Jimmy's can do it. What kind of car do you have?"
"It's a new Mercedes S-Class coup," Maura carefully offered. "Is there anyone here who can work on a Mercedes?"
"My mechanic can," a brunette in the crowd replied. Smartly dressed and clearly someone with some power among those in the room, she stepped next to the blonde as she gave the two women a thorough but quick inspection. "I drive a Mercedes myself, though it's a classic. I'm sure he'll be able to diagnose and fix whatever the issue is with your car quickly so you may be on your way."
"That would wonderful, thank you." Maura gave a very small smile of thanks. "Who is your mechanic?"
"Jimmy Townston," the woman replied. "The same man Sheriff Swan suggested to tow your car."
"Well, that's convenient," Jane said with a snort.
The smartly dressed woman narrowed her eyes. "It's a small town, Ms…?"
"Rizzoli," Jane offered in an even voice that dared the woman to cross her. "Detective Jane Rizzoli."
The travelers heard a few audible gasps from the gallery of people watching their interactions. "Detective? Has something happened to bring you here? If so, nothing has come in on the wire." The blonde women suddenly looked anxious.
"No, nothing like that," Maura cut in before Jane could somehow make the situation worse. "We're on vacation. I just bought the car, and we decided to take a road trip to test its long term performance. As you can tell, I'm less than impressed with it." She offered her hand. "I'm Maura Isles."
"Emma Swan," the blonde took the offered hand. "This is Regina Mills, the mayor of our town."
"Pleasure," the mayor replied in a dry voice that said she took no pleasure in this situation. "I'll contact Jimmy and inform him of the situation. Sheriff, will you…" she gave the younger woman beside her a look that spoke to something the other two women didn't understand but made Jane's skin itch, "assist our town's guests with whatever they may need?" She turned her attention back to the detective. "It's not often we have vacationers here in our little town. I hope you enjoy the sights while you're here, and," she gave an almost too welcoming smile, "Welcome to Storybrooke."
Thank you for reading. I hope everyone is at least enjoying it, and I am VERY much enjoying your commentary. Thank you for the reviews, and I hope to hear more from all of you.